danish

this morning i noticed that i pull up on my cage a lot to skip or skid. does anybosy else do that? is it weird? poor technique? i am thinking it's probably not the right way to do it.
after that i consciously tried not to do it and was able to avoid it but i think it's kind of memorized by my muscles. does anyone have any pointers to correct that technique?

danish

oh jeez sorry about the double post.

sers

you could try putting more pressure on your rear foot. might be a bit easier on your straps/clips

thenathanator

I use my cages/straps all the time when I'm skidding. I don't think it's bad technique so much as needing to supply more stopping power - sometimes just pushing back isn't going to cut it and you need to pull up on the straps as well (though I think most of the stopping power does come from pushing). If I don't pull up on the straps I typically can't stop my crank from rotating so I don't end up skidding.
For skipping, however, I don't think I ever pull up on my straps. It's all in hitting that sweet spot when the crank is coming up, where I feel like I'm going to be popped up, and then locking my leg and brining up the back wheel with me, and then doing it on the otherside.

krillz

i think thats perfectly normal.. pulling up on one... and pushing down on the other would simplpy provide more pressure.. why would you want to only use one leg? correct me if im wrong

genericbikedude

I probably pull more than push for skids. What's the problem?

dudeman

sounds like you know how two skid. good job.

teencraft

I can't skid for the life of me...any tips?

genericbikedude

ride with no pants, and be sure that your testicles are touching the stem. then stop pedaling. if you dont have testicles, pretend.

Fugazi Dave

Pulling up should be half of the force exerted in a skip/skid. Trying to do it just by pushing down is just bad technique.

teencraft

My skidding technique is getting worse and worse!!!!1

humancongereel

lately i've been working on not pulling, with the logic that if i concentrate on each, i'll build up more muscle for each, so when i do both, i'll stop even better than i do already. which is pretty well. anyway, i pull up plenty. nothing wrong with using every tool you have at your disposal.

sr20det

btw, your ****ing chinese doesn't make any sense.

sers

first you must learn how to stop the rear wheel...

1) put your weight as far forward as you can. (this makes it easier to stop the rear wheel)

imagine a clock face on your drive side

2) when your stronger leg is at about 7 o clock, start pushing down hard on the pedal with that leg

3) simultaneously pull up on your weak leg's pedal to help your strong foot stop.

the goal is to have your strong foot stop between 9 and 10 o clock

if you're having problems, try going a little slower...

after that you can worry about keeping the wheel steady and distance, which come with practice

sers

true - but, i think it's easier to learn by concentrating on one foot. i think people can get overwhelmed by trying to equalize the force, lock their knees, etc. let them worry about control technique after they learn how to stop the rear wheel.

Awetistic

I'm all about equal force. Try it on a wet road and you'll see. You'll pick it up quicker that way. Ya don't gotta kiss the front tire, just play around with your weight over the bars and get a feel for how your stopping mechanics affects your control. You'll notice a tendency to slide your rear to the side if you depend on one leg too much. The farther you put yourself over the bars and off the back wheel the longer and more controlled your skids will be. Skidding into a trackstand is always fun. Just **** around with it. You're your own best teacher.

deeps eno

What is the highest gearing eveyone skids at? I use a 48/ 16 combo, 81 gear ratio I think. It works but hard on the legs.

Phillio

Isn't pushing down on the rear foot just counter to the whole notion of lifting weight off the rear wheel?

Fugazi Dave

Un-weighting the rear wheel is over-emphasized, IMO. More useful for learning and longskids, really, than for slowing and stopping in traffic. The more weight you can keep on the rear wheel while doing these things, the more effective they are.

humancongereel

yes, it is.

and fugazi dave, i dunno, i think unweighting the rear wheel helps make it easier to initialize the skip/skid. getting far forward is overrated (and eating through my tires).

spud

+1
it takes time (read distance at high speed) to unweight the wheel, if youre in traffic, you can skip and skid in the same motion and slow down faster, or a series of fast skips. or if riding in very heavy traffic, switch to a lower gear ratio and skid while in the saddle. also its much better to learn with both feet, emphasizing on one foot would be ok if you really had to, but your feet are synchronized 180 degrees apart, thats not going to change.

bobdanger

imho- dont do it. you waste rubber. while i have not ridden w/o brakes ever i have learned this much: skidding is for poor riders w/ poor planning, look ahead. you're on the street its not a track so get a brake and dial that sh#t in! did i mention skidding ruins tires reallly frikkin fast which = $$ in the ltr.fyi. it only encourages bad riders.

spud

dial it in?

chip thunder

I'm with you, Fugazi Dave. I was just barely out of the saddle the first time I skidded, and by the third or fourth time I was skidding seated. Much more effective for stopping. Now, if you're skidding for fun you should unweight that bastard. But if you're trying to use it for stopping power then getting too far forward is a nasty habit that may get you in trouble.

As has been said many many times before, the 'trick' is to commit. YANK up on the front pedal and MASH down on the back. Put yourself in a position where if you don't successfully skid you will be thrown from your steed by the cranks. Just don't do it in traffic til you're comfortable.